A court in southwestern China’s Sichuan province has ordered a traveling circus to pay a man with a developmental disability 205,000 yuan ($29,000) after he was bitten by a tiger and had to have his hand amputated in late 2016, local media outlet Red Star News reported Friday.

The Leshan Intermediate People’s Court determined that the circus — which hailed from the eastern Shandong province and had been holding daily performances in Sichuan’s Qianwei County — should bear the lion’s share of the responsibility because it had been negligent in supervising its animals.

In December 2016, a tiger that was locked in a cage on a truck outside the performance venue bit the man, surnamed Yang, who was not accompanied by a guardian. Yang’s mother sued both the circus and the local sports and culture bureau, demanding over 600,000 yuan in compensation. The court ruled against the circus but absolved the bureau of any responsibility to ensure the safety of animal performances.

Accidents involving zoo or circus animals occasionally make headlines in China. In November 2017, a tiger from a circus in the northern Shanxi province escaped from its cage and attacked two children. And last month, another tiger escaped during a live performance in the central Henan province, causing chaos among the terrified audience.

Following a series of animal abuse scandals and welfare campaigns, there is now a growing movement in the country to boycott such performances as cruel and inhumane. (Image: VCG)